The beautiful Marie is looking good in more ways than one. Did you catch Oprah’s reunion of the whole family – all 100 of them – a week ago? I was sitting here working on my post for this very blog when Donny (hello??? hot!!!!!!! hot then, hot now, hot always!!!!!!!!!!), little Jimmy all grown up (he's handsome, too) and all their brothers reunited on stage to perform some tuneage. Marie even performed a quick dance step with her partner. Then, at the end, the musical sign-off that those Osmonds were known for – it made entertainment news all weekend. Even though the family’s patriarch had just passed away, the Osmonds still did the show for Oprah, turning the episode into a tribute for their father. I couldn’t help but be impressed. I was the little girl who watched the “Donny and Marie” show faithfully in the late ‘70s and longed for those purple-satin-clad 12-inch dolls that were on the store shelves (I never did get ‘em, but I did get the Dolly Parton of the same era, with her silky red and sparkly silver jumpsuit and anatomically correct bust – she sits atop my bathroom counter right now, along with the Cher doll of the ‘70s).

One thing that really struck me about that Oprah show was what the Osmonds had to say about their parents and their upbringing. What an amazing thing, to hear celebrities express such love and joy and thankfulness (‘tis the season) for their upbringing and the values it entailed. To discuss their faith in God and demonstrate how important it is in their lives. And there was Marie – amid oodles of siblings with their spouses and many children and years of happy lives together. Marie was the only one who was divorced. She seemed quite alone, at times, during that show. But she stuck it out, despite tears for her father and for her two oldest brothers, the deaf siblings who inspired the other family members to sing in the first place.

It may be a tired cliché, but there could be no better time to say … You go, girl!